PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[UrbanRevival]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Jenkintown Giant grocery store demolition process is officially underway
https://glensidelocal.com/jenkintown-giant-grocery-store-demolition-process-is-officially-underway/

The redevelopment project has the 50,000 square foot store being built from the ground up at the former site of Glanzmann Subaru and a set of commercial stores bordered by Old York Road, Washington Lane and Wyncote Lane.

Impressive to see a little burg like Jenkintown have a semi-urban format full-service grocery store. Definitely bolsters the walkability there even more.

Thanks for sharing.

[TK2001]

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/com...gloucester-city-new-jersey-20230904.html

Never thought I'd see such a development in my hometown. I remember well over a decade ago when I was a child, they had a fence up with renderings of a brick cladding building on the pier. However, this building actually takes up the whole pier but the sidewalks, as the last proposal didn't take up all of the space

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by PhillyRising

So...the mass timber office building in Newtown Square is finally going up. I must say, I thought it would look like the matchstick apartment buildings but so far the wood looks big and sturdy. So far, it is not what I was imaging it would look like.

Upon further review on a walk past it...it looked to be a parking structure the color of wood.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by PhillyRising

Upon further review on a walk past it...it looked to be a parking structure the color of wood.

It's the mass timber office building under construction. I passed it last week. A new building being built by UPenn using mass timber in University City looks exactly the same:

https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/w...imber-construction-nearly-at-its-summit/

[summersm343]

Long-vacated pier in Gloucester City may soon get two apartment buildings

A North Jersey developer wants to build 364 apartments on a Delaware River pier site that has long inspired Gloucester City’s dreams of economic revitalization.

It’s not the first time this long-struggling little city in the shadow of the Walt Whitman Bridge has been wooed for its waterfront, and there’s no shortage of skeptics. But supporters have high hopes for the latest proposal.

The $100 million Freedom Pier Development at King and Cumberland Streets would include a seven-story building on the pier itself and an eight-story building along King Street, each with parking underneath. The larger building would offer 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space as well as residential.

“Overwhelmingly positive” is how Ryno described public reaction to the proposal during presentations he made in the city last year.

Yet Holt Logistics Corp., which has its headquarters, cranes, and warehouse facilities next to Freedom Pier, has raised concerns.

In letters filed with city officials in July and August, Joseph F. Kessler, the Philadelphia lawyer representing Holt, sought to postpone the planning board’s approval of a revised redevelopment plan for the pier.

Kessler also asserted in the letters that the Meridia project as proposed would violate the terms of Holt’s 99-year lease with the city for its headquarters in the former immigration and Coast Guard station building.

Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/com...gloucester-city-new-jersey-20230904.html

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by summersm343

It's the mass timber office building under construction. I passed it last week. A new building being built by UPenn using mass timber in University City looks exactly the same:

https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/w...imber-construction-nearly-at-its-summit/

PhillyRising is referring to a mass timber building going up in Newtown Square in Ellis Preserve.
https://ellispreserve.com/leasing/mass-timber-office-building-office-2/

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

PhillyRising is referring to a mass timber building going up in Newtown Square in Ellis Preserve.
https://ellispreserve.com/leasing/mass-timber-office-building-office-2/

Yes, I know. I was in Ellis Preserve last week. PhillyRising said it was the mass timber office building going up, but then said he believe it to be a parking garage. I was confirming that it is indeed the mass timber office building, as the structure/construction looks very similar to the building Penn is building out of mass timber.

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by summersm343

It's the mass timber office building under construction. I passed it last week. A new building being built by UPenn using mass timber in University City looks exactly the same:

https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly/w...imber-construction-nearly-at-its-summit/

Good! It was really confusing me. I was thinking why are you building a concrete parking garage when you are making building wood. I think the area where the elevator/stairs towers and the steel frame faked me out. I was thinking they were just going to match stick the building. I'm guessing that is something else.

[Justin7]

Good unbiased explainer on mass timber if you're interested: https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environme...aterials-mass-timber-cross-laminated-clt

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Long-vacated pier in Gloucester City may soon get two apartment buildings





Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/com...gloucester-city-new-jersey-20230904.html

This is a no-brainer!

I'm not sure being a next door neighbor who parks their heavy equipment there should be enough to block this from going forward. Right?!

[DIESELPOLO]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Jenkintown Giant grocery store demolition process is officially underway
https://glensidelocal.com/jenkintown-giant-grocery-store-demolition-process-is-officially-underway/

The redevelopment project has the 50,000 square foot store being built from the ground up at the former site of Glanzmann Subaru and a set of commercial stores bordered by Old York Road, Washington Lane and Wyncote Lane.

Dang. I was expecting something much more impressive than this, given the infill across the street with the well-designed apartments finishing up across the street from Abington Friends and the other well-designed apartment building in their downtown that was recently done in the past 3 years.

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Good unbiased explainer on mass timber if you're interested: https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environme...aterials-mass-timber-cross-laminated-clt

It does look sturdy. It will be interesting to watch the building in Newtown Square progress.

[Aether]

Sorry for bumping with no updates or anything, but am i the only one who thinks Philly doesnt sprawl nearly as much as a lot of other American cities?
My thinking is spawned by this article https://www.phillymag.com/property/2023/03/04/philadelphia-suburban-growth/
It uses 2 examples saying philly and NYC overlap on the delaware river, around trenton , and also between philly and Wilmington. I think those barriers were crossed years ago but it goes on to say that lancaster, allentown and reading are becoming this giant glob of sprawl with philly.
But i dont see that much consistent sprawl once you get past say Landsdale and Doylestown. To the north there is sprawl but it follows the river and at that it fizzles out once you go west past 295. And for Wilmington it does the same as the north, hugs the river but doesn't go to far inland.
Is it as bad as they say or just typical overreaction?

[summersm343]

A blighted building in Camden advertised condos ‘coming soon’ for years. Now the mayor wants to demolish it.

Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/business/carl-dranoff-properties-lawsuit-settlement-nj-20230921.html

[summersm343]

Atlantic City’s former Playground Pier at Caesars to become movie and TV studio

Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/p...studio-atlantic-city-media-20230923.html

[summersm343]

$50 million - Arekma's King of Prussia headquarters

Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) received a $50 million construction loan for the future North American corporate headquarters of France-based Arkema, a global supplier of specialty materials. The build-to-suit project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The four-floor, 144,685-square-foot building, at 155 King of Prussia Road in Radnor, is planned to have lab and office space.

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia...eals-apartment-portfolio-radnor-lab.html

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by Aether

Sorry for bumping with no updates or anything, but am i the only one who thinks Philly doesnt sprawl nearly as much as a lot of other American cities?
My thinking is spawned by this article https://www.phillymag.com/property/2023/03/04/philadelphia-suburban-growth/
It uses 2 examples saying philly and NYC overlap on the delaware river, around trenton , and also between philly and Wilmington. I think those barriers were crossed years ago but it goes on to say that lancaster, allentown and reading are becoming this giant glob of sprawl with philly.
But i dont see that much consistent sprawl once you get past say Landsdale and Doylestown. To the north there is sprawl but it follows the river and at that it fizzles out once you go west past 295. And for Wilmington it does the same as the north, hugs the river but doesn't go to far inland.
Is it as bad as they say or just typical overreaction?

The Philadelphia metro is one of the least sprawl-iest metros in the nation, a great thing.

Visit any big city in Texas, Florida or Arizona and you will see true sprawl. Even DC area has quite a bit of sprawl.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

The Philadelphia metro is one of the least sprawl-iest metros in the nation, a great thing.

Visit any big city in Texas, Florida or Arizona and you will see true sprawl. Even DC area has quite a bit of sprawl.

Yeah. Frankly, I don't think of the region as sprawling either. At this point, there's so much land preservation in the PA suburbs that many townships are built out even though they look green on maps. I'm thinking specifically of Southern Chester County. I mean, the Brandywine Conservancy and other organizations (and even individual townships) have been at it for years...gobbling up farms and untouched wooded areas and wetlands in the name of preventing overdevelopment. I mean, this is uniformly the case in the areas around Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Unionville, and even parts of West Chester (at least those west of West Chester). Driving south on Rt 1, you probably have to get all the way nearly to Oxford to be in an area where you can sort of build in an unfettered way but once you get that far out, there's no point in being there. It's just too disconnected.

Edit to add: Do other regions even have the same type of land preservation efforts? I have distinct memories when I was growing up of individual townships issuing bonds (always approved by voter referendum) with the explicit purpose of buying open land to preserve it. These would be like 10, 20, 30 million dollar bonds with expressed purpose of buying open space. Usually, it was well known which farms/land the bonds were being used to acquire. There was a strong undercurrent or awareness that maintainining sprawling infrastructure was more expensive than anyone ever acknowledges and another driving factor was limiting growth in the school districts (i.e. an argument to keep taxes low by not having to build more schools etc). It's quite progressive when you think about it and it's probably one of the driving factors as to why so much of the region's development has moved inward over the years.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

Yeah. Frankly, I don't think of the region as sprawling either. At this point, there's so much land preservation in the PA suburbs that many townships are built out even though they look green on maps. I'm thinking specifically of Southern Chester County. I mean, the Brandywine Conservancy and other organizations (and even individual townships) have been at it for years...gobbling up farms and untouched wooded areas and wetlands in the name of preventing overdevelopment. I mean, this is uniformly the case in the areas around Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Unionville, and even parts of West Chester (at least those west of West Chester). Driving south on Rt 1, you probably have to get all the way nearly to Oxford to be in an area where you can sort of build in an unfettered way but once you get that far out, there's no point in being there. It's just too disconnected.

Edit to add: Do other regions even have the same type of land preservation efforts? I have distinct memories when I was growing up of individual townships issuing bonds (always approved by voter referendum) with the explicit purpose of buying open land to preserve it. These would be like 10, 20, 30 million dollar bonds with expressed purpose of buying open space. Usually, it was well known which farms/land the bonds were being used to acquire. There was a strong undercurrent or awareness that maintainining sprawling infrastructure was more expensive than anyone ever acknowledges and another driving factor was limiting growth in the school districts (i.e. an argument to keep taxes low by not having to build more schools etc). It's quite progressive when you think about it and it's probably one of the driving factors as to why so much of the region's development has moved inward over the years.

I am not sure about the second part. I hope other regions engage in some sort of open space preservation efforts. And not motivated by total NIMBYism, but for the benefit of a region and ecosystem.

I meant to say in my first post, while great that sprawl is limited around Philadelphia, there should also be less pushback toward denser infill development in the the more urban walk-able centers, like Ardmore. The Philadelphia region is a desirable place to live (and people gotta live somewhere), and if current residents don't want 300 houses on open space, then they should compromise (and chill) when it comes to more houses and apartments in Ardmore, Media, West Chester, Swarthmore, etc.
I also wish there was a bigger push to develop housing on the sea of strip mall parking lots in solid suburbs like Aston, Plymouth Meeting, etc., I'll limit my tangent to that.

[Urbanthusiat]

$250M mixed-use development planned for former Inspira Woodbury site